Lemon-scented cous-cous salad

Posted on by gloriouslygoodfood
lemon-scented cous-cous salad

This fat-free, low-carb, low-calorie salad is a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach

Lemon-scented cous-cous salad, served with seared tuna steak

I’ve created this salad for my pre-surgery diet before my weight-loss surgery, but despite the lemon-scent (obtained from grating in some lemon zest), if you take out the tomatoes and replace them with additional vegetables, e.g. cucumber, sweetcorn, freshly shelled peas etc, it is also suitable for anyone following a reflux diet.  I am tolerating tomatoes quite well now my reflux has settled down a lot, and as my diet is so severely restricted for these few days before my surgery, I have opted to use the tomatoes. 

You can have this salad on its own, or serve it with a variety of meat or fish.  In this instance, I served it with a delicious seared tuna steak, seasoned with sea salt, garlic and chilli. 

Ingredients (for one generous portion)

  • Three small tomatoes, chopped into small pieces (see note above if you are following a reflux diet)
  • 1/3rd of a red pepper, chopped into small pieces
  • 1/3rd of a yellow pepper, chopped into small pieces
  • 2tbsp cooked cous-cous
  • 1tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
  • zest of 1/3rd of a lemon, finely grated
  • sea salt, to taste

Method

Mix all ingredients together.  Serve & enjoy!

Gloriously simple, gloriously good!

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian or medical professional.  These are simply ideas based on meals I have created to suit my own dietary needs and, as I’ve enjoyed them, I wanted to share them. If you are unsure about the suitability of any ingredients or recipes on my blog for your own requirements, please check with a health professional first. 

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Lemon Cheese | Lemon Curd

Posted on by gloriouslygoodfood

I adore lemon cheese (or lemon curd…it goes by both names)!

I also cherish lime cheese and, recently, tried someone’s Baileys Cheese and it was heavenly.

How to make these heavenly delights is something that’s always intrigued me, so I looked up the recipe and was stunned to find out how quick and easy it is to make.  I’ve not created my own recipe because, frankly, why mess with perfection?

So I followed Delia’s recipe last night and it took about 10 mins to cook with just a few mins beforehand to grate the lemon zest, squeeze the lemons for juice and get my other ingredients ready!

You can follow Delia’s recipe by clicking the link above.

Here’s the end result of my endeavours:

Lemon Cheese | Lemon Curd

A couple of points to bear in mind:

It ends up looking lighter once it’s cold

It goes a lot thicker as it cools down, so make sure you don’t thicken it to your final desired consistency in the cooking process – leave it a bit runnier

Now…for my next ones, I have a few ideas…

Marsala Cheese (Edit 5th May 2013: I’ve now made Tiramisù Cheese: A spread made with espresso, Marsala all’Uovo and cocoa!)

Strawberry & Champagne Cheese

and I’ll have to make some Lime Cheese, too, as I love it so much 🙂

Rainbow Trout with Dill, Parsley and Lemon | Herby Rainbow Trout

Posted on by gloriouslygoodfood

This Rainbow Trout recipe with dill, parsley and lemon is an adaptation of a recipe I found on a low-cal website.

The original recipe called for a lot of low-fat spread and I wanted to use olive oil instead, as well as using the juice of the lemon in the cooking as well as the rind that was indicated in the original recipe. I’ve also used larger quantities of the herbs.

This is a truly delicious, quick and simple dish and perfect if you’re trying to keep the calories down.

Serve with new potatoes as shown in this recipe and photo, or with a side salad or steamed vegetables.  Green beans or broccoli would go very well with this dish.

Rainbow Trout Dill Parsley Lemon | Lemon and Herb Rainbow Trout

Ingredients (for 4 people)

  • 4 fresh rainbow trout fillets
  • 1 lemon
  • a good handful of fresh dill (foliage only)
  • a good handful of fresh parsley (foliage only), flat-leaf or curly-leaf is fine
  • sea salt & freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2kg fresh new potatoes

Method

Start by putting the potatoes in a pan of cold water (if boiling) with a good pinch of coarse sea salt and place the pan over  a high heat (they should come up to the boil and be ready and cooked to perfection by the time you serve the fish – check from time to time to ensure they’re not over-cooking and drain once ready).

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.

Place the dill and parsley in a blender or food processor (you can chop by hand if you prefer and add the liquid ingredients after you’ve done the chopping part).  Finely grate the zest of the lemon and add to the herbs. Season with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper.  Add 1tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil and the juice of half the lemon (ensure there are no pips in the juice!).  Blend everything together until the herbs are as finely-chopped as you can get them.

Place a large piece of tin-foil into an oven-proof dish (you will need to close this over the fish and herbs without it touching the herbs and leaving enough room for steam to circulate, so ensure the piece of foil is ample).  Lay the rainbow trout fillets onto the tin foil, skin-side down. Evenly spread the herb, oil & lemon mixture over the four fillets. Carefully form a tin-foil pouch by sealing all the ends of the tin foil together so no steam will escape, but ensuring there is plenty of room between the fillets and the top of the ‘parcel’.

Place the oven dish with the rainbow trout fillet ‘parcel’ into the oven and cook for approx. 15 minutes (if fan-assisted…for non-fan-assisted ovens you may need a little longer).

Serve with the potatoes and/or your choice of vegetables/salad. Enjoy!

Gloriously Simple, Gloriously Good!